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| Syed Shahabuddin is a well known in the political and academic circles as well as in the mass media and does not need an introduction. In his many incarnations he has been a university teacher, a diplomat, who served as an ambassador and a government official who was at the time of his seeking pre-mature retirement, the Joint Secretary in charge of South East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific in the Ministry of External Affairs. He was a MP for three terms between 1979 and 1996 and made a mark as a Parliamentarian. He has edited Muslim India, the monthly journal of research, documentation and reference from 1983 to 2002 and again from July 2006. He has been a regular contributor on current affairs in the media and a familiar participant in seminars and TV discussions. He has been a member of many learned bodies and associated with several Muslim institutions and organizations. More... |
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Wanted Standardisation, Recognition and Federation of Madrasas Madrasas in India are an unregulated but a perennial growth on our educational landscape. Their raison d¡¯etre is to provide religious instruction to Muslim children in early life as well as to produce religious functionaries needed by the community, out of the students, who opt for a religious career and aspire to become religious scholars. Madrasas, generally, do not charge fees. They also provide free lodging & boarding. They run on the voluntary charity of the Community. and refuse Government aid. This is how the Madrasas protet their autonomy, both academic and administrative, which they jealously guard, and their status in the community They decide their own curricula and syllabi, their courses and textbooks, hold their examinations and award their own ¡®sanads¡¯ on completion of various courses. But this emphasis on autonomy produces an inbuilt lack of standardization. The quality of teaching and, therefore, of their products varies from Madrasa to Madrasa and depends on the commitment of teachers and management. The products of Madrasas are largely absorbed in the religious circuit which, with growing population demands new Madrasas and new Masjids. But, they remain largely untapped by the vast market outside the religious circuit which has no idea of the of the moral values and personal qualities imparted by the Madrasa education. Thus, the country has been deprived of their potential contribution in non-religious fields, except the Ulema who enter politics. For the first time, in the last decade or two, some Madrasas have become conscious of this limitation and are trying to make their products more serviceable & more employable: Some Madrasas have added general subjects at various stages. They also divide the duration of instruction into academic phases corresponding to primary, upper primary, secondary, higher secondary and degree levels. Some Madrasas, also offer post graduate courses and research programmes. At the base level in several States many Muslim children attend Maktabs, local Madarsas or Quranic schools, simultaneously with studying in primary schools and later join the normal educational stream. In some States, the children joining Madrasas also pursue the primary course so that sequentialy they can get admitted to the VI class. Some Madrasa students complete the equivalent of secondary or higher secondary and join the degree courses in universities. But, they would have better prospects if before or after joining the BA or BA (Honours) course they would spend at least one year polishing their English. The main shortcoming of the Madrasa educational system today is their lack of standardization which limits the access of their products to the general educational stream at various levels. The system lacks a central authority,even denomination-wise, at the national or at the territorial level, to grade the Madrasas academically. Indeed, what is needed is one or more nationwide Federations of Madrasas affiliated to a recognized centre like Darul Uloom, Deoband, or Nadvatul Ulema, Lucknow, or the equivalent apex institutions for the Shias, the Ahle Hadeeth and the Barelvis. Each Federation would pursue a common curriculum, introduce changes in the syllabi, and the courses, prescribe textbooks, set standards and conduct final examinations. The Federation would also grade the Madarsas and recognize them for various levels. Such gradation & standardization is the prime need of the contemporary Madrasas, without which their products are bound to be under-valued & reduced to opening new Madrasas & serving as Imams. Another major shortcomings of the Madrasa systems lies in that theoretically every Madrasa may admit students from any part of the country. Therefore, standardization should also imply fixation of territorial jurisdiction. A Tahtania, or primary, Madrasa should take in only local children of the village or the mohalla. A Wastania, or middle, Madrasa should enroll students from the entire district. A Fouqania, or high, Madarsa may admit students from the whole State. Only few high Madarasas, including national seminaries of particular denominations, should admit students from the whole country or even foreign countries. Once the jurisdiction is fixed, the Madarasa should raise resources only from within their jurisdiction and not send their agents or collectors all over the country in pursuit of donations. On the other hand nothing prevents persons of means to donate on their own not only to the nationally well-known Madarasas but also to other Madrasas of their choice, may be in their home towns or district or about whose performance they come to know through friends and relatives. For many years, some States have established Madrasa Examination Boards. Other State Governments extend financial assistance to the affiliated Madrasas in the form of salaries of teachers. The Central Government has also allocated some funds for modernization. This scheme provides teachers and teaching equipment on demand. But there are few takers. The fact is that during the last 50 years, the Madrasas receiving government aid or affiliated to Government Boards have produced no religious scholar worth the name. It is the Azad Madrasas, which refuse to accept any aid from the Government & follow their own syllabi and have kept the flag of Uloom-e-Deen flying. But Azad Madrasas are not static; they are engaged in revising their syllabi and curricula adopting new teaching methods, pruning traditional courses and adding subjects like English, Elementary Mathematics, basic Science, Social Sciences and Hindi or principal languages of the States of their location. of late, the Central Government has been drawing up a plan for establishing a Central Madrasa Education Board. But the Madrasa managements are wary of Government intervention. They think that Government-appointed teachers will not fit into the social environment of the Madrasas and in any case they are loath to give any role to the Government in determining courses and syllabi. The Government lacks a clear purpose and is yet to formulate a scheme. But without a blue print the Government representatives have been canvassing the Madrasas to accept Government-financed modernization. But experience shows that the Government managed and supervised madarsas totally deviate from the basic religious purpose behind the existence of Madrasas. West Bengal has turned its High Madrasas into High Schools with just one additional paper on Arabic or Islamiyat. The products will not become any more employable than the hundreds and thousands of unemployed Muslim youth. But neither will they be employable as Imam or Mudarris. Perhaps the government hopes to fulfill its responsibility for educating Musim childen without establishing proper schools in accordance with national norms in Muslim areas! In the meantime the institution of Madrasa is being falsely vilified, as all over the world, as a nursery for terrorists, a shelter for militants, a cradle of bigotry. From the national angle, it is the Government¡¯s duty to provide adequate number of primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools for the Muslim community as for other social groups. The fact is that Muslim concentration areas are relatively deprived of Government schools. Perhaps the Government sponsored schemes, showing interest in Muslim education are but a cover for the shameful neglect of education in Muslim concentration areas for decades ever since Independence,and projects aided Madarsas as substitutes for schools and colleges which they are not and cannot be. Apparently, the promoters of the Government scheme are oblivious of the object and purpose of the Madrasas. Madrasas are not meant to produce doctors or engineers, scientists or bureaucrats or even clerks or computer oprators. Madrasas are meant, above all, to instruct the younger generation in the basics of Islam and to produce religious scholars and functionaries needed by the Community. The Madrasas, therefore, should be flexible to meet the needs of the Community and the market, since the scholars have to earn their livelihood. Obviously, 95% of the children who receive religious instruction at the Maktabs for the first five years wish to seek a living outside. Only 5% thus proceed to be come scholars.They form the backbone of the community in facing adverse weather and preserving religious identity and carrying forward traditions The Madarsas cannot remain static and get lost in the world which is changing fast beyond recognition. They have to revise their curricula and syllabi, but at their own pace, guided by their own inner dynamism, within inbuilt checks & balances, so that their products serve as religious guides in changing times. to sum up, time has come for the heads and managers of Madarsas of national eminence to sit together, form one or more Madrasa Federations or Examination Boards like the ISCSE or CBSE & persuade the Government to recognize the academic sanads awarded by nationally eminent Madarsas or their national and and regional Federations, as equivalent to certificates and degrees of the general educatioal system. Without interference in the curricula or syllabi, the Government should extend educational and even technical support at all stages. Later the Federations may establish a National Confederation of Madarsas of all sects and denominations. The Government should appreciate the role of the Madrasas in the life of the Community as well as recognize their potential for the nation. It should not try to kill them or to transform them into faceless institutions which do not fulfill their basic purpose. Even in the current state of deprivation and insecurity, the Muslim community is strong by attached to its Masjids and Madrasas. It regard masjids as centres of the society and Madarsas as cradles of its identity. The Community is not prepared for their ¡®nationalization¡¯ or to accept any curbs on their academic or religious freedom. A secular government should respect these sentiments and help them achieve a larger social purpose. New Delhi 7 November, 2006 |
